Congress Should Reject Anti-Environmental Farm Bill

Environment America

This afternoon, a Farm Bill (H.R. 2) loaded with anti-environmental provisions is back for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. The House previously rejected H.R. 2 by a vote of 198 to 213. John Rumpler, Environment America’s senior attorney and clean water program director, issued the following statement:

“Today, Congress again considers a dirty Farm Bill that would undermine protections for clean water, national forests, and our health. More specifically, H.R. 2  would:

• Repeal the Clean Water Rule, which restored federal protections for half of our nation’s streams and millions of acres of wetlands.

• Allow destructive mining, drilling, and roadbuilding in our national forests in Alaska, including the Tongass, which is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world.

• Exempt pesticide pollution from the Clean Water Act, even though pesticides have contributed to more than 1,800 instances of water pollution across the country.

• Eliminate the Conservation Stewardship Program, the nation’s largest conservation program by acreage.

• Pre-empt state and local laws aimed at health and environmental impacts of factory farms.

• Severely undermine vital bedrock environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act.

• Eliminate public input and environmental review for a wide range of activities on public lands.

“Poisoning our water and land to grow our food makes no sense. Congress should reject this dirty Farm Bill and start over with legislation that promotes both healthy food and clean water. So far, the Senate Farm Bill offers the nation a far better path than H.R. 2.”